The L Word
by Blackbirdox
Summary: Charlotte Dalton appears to have everything she wants, but that's only because the rest of the world would never guess what she's really after.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own DPS. :(

**A/N:** AU in which the poets are girls. I just really wanted to write it, okay?

* * *

><p>Charlotte 'Charlie' Dalton is<em> the<em> it girl.

At the tender age of just seventeen, the world already bends to her whims and with only a smile or a wink or a flip of her hair, there is nothing that's out of her reach. If she wanted the moon on a string, she'd get it. Money is no object for Charlotte- it never has been- and the she makes sure that the entire student body at Welton Preparatory School for Girls knows it.

Money's gotten her a private room ever since her first semester of freshman year and money allows her exclusive off campus privileges- so long as she keeps the boys in town and out of the dorms and is always back before midnight. (Or one, if she manages to slip headmistress Hager an extra twenty or two before strolling out of the building, designer heels clicking on the linoleum behind her.)

Charlotte is the girl that everyone wants to be, what with her money and her popularity and her body- one that looks like it just walked off the runways of Paris. Everyone wants to be her, the girl who gets everything she wants.

It's just that Charlotte doesn't get everything she wants.

The Daltons have expectations- Charlotte needs a quality education and she needs to find a quality husband and they need to marry and live in a quality, ostentatious house and have two kids and a dog. Charlotte needs to honor the family name, to be elegant and well mannered at all times, and learn conduct herself properly like all good women should.

But Charlotte isn't interested in the husband and the house and the kids and the dog. In fact, Charlotte, the girl with the world at her feet, only wants the one thing she never have-

Stephanie Meeks.


	2. Chapter 2

It's not that the boys that fall at Charlotte's feet aren't good enough or that she's not interested in them. She is, for the most part, but they're just not Stephanie.

She ran into Stephanie, quite literally, on their first day at Welton three years ago and the moment their shoulders brushed, Charlotte was smitten.

Stephanie is gorgeous you see, with gorgeous porcelain skin and fiery hair and warm, kind eyes that light up every time she smiles. She's one of the brightest, if not the brightest, students at Welton and she seemingly excels at every little thing she tries from athletics to academics.

It started as hero worship in a way, as Stephanie is the free spirited, gentle person that Charlotte always wished she could be. She admired her from afar, watched her in the mornings at the breakfast table when she'd throw her head back and laugh at one of Nellie Perry's comments or during study hall when she'd hunch over her books and gnaw at the end of her pen, eye brows creased in thought.

It wasn't until Charlotte woke up from a dream about hiking up Stephanie's skirt and shredding her stockings with nothing but her teeth that she realized she had a problem.

From then on, hero worship became lust which became hopeless longing which became love and now Charlotte is absolutely, completely, and royally _fucked._

Literally.

Because now that she's in love, with a girl, no less, she's set out on a quest to completely forget about it which involves a whole hell of a lot of bed hopping. She's slowly making her way through the male population of the local high school and occasionally warms the bed of Santana Lopez or Rachel Cameron, the pesky ginger across the hall.

The only upside of carrying on with Rachel- which the twit insists is pronounced_ Raquel_- is that her hair is the exact shade as Stephanie's and that makes it easy to imagine that the squirming, moaning, writhing thing beneath her is actually the object of her affections.

The object that Charlotte just so happens to encounter on the night before the start of their second semester as she slips out the door of Rachel's room, bra in hand and skirt on backwards.

The words that had been building up in the back of her throat just sort of die there and she just winds up staring at Stephanie who's dressed in a little white nightgown that causes a little puddle of drool to start welling up in Charlotte's mouth.

Stephanie smiles pleasantly at her and reaches up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hello Charlie," she says as though she's blind to the scrap of lace in Charlotte's hand and the fact that she just stepped out of their female classmate's dorm room. "Couldn't sleep?"

Charlotte swallows thickly. "Uh. Yeah. Something like that."

"You could try another blanket," Stephanie suggests conversationally, as if nothing about this is awkward at all. "It should help. Keep you warm and snug and all that. I think Taylor might have an extra one if you'd like."

"N-No," Charlotte stutters, because there's no way in hell she's going to step into Stephanie Meeks' dorm room and have to face Taylor Anderson when all she'd be thinking about is the different places around the room that she'd love to shove Stephanie against. "I'll be fine. I'm uh, kind of tired now."

The corner of Stephanie's mouth twitches like she wants to smile. "It looks like it." She reaches out and places her hand on Charlotte's shoulder and for a fraction of a second, Charlotte forgets how to breathe. "Sleep well, Charlie. I'll see you in the morning."

Charlotte's only response is a strangled little sound that escapes her mouth as she watches Stephanie walking away, curls bouncing and hips swaying.

Oh, she is _so_ fucked.


	3. Chapter 3

The world is out to get Charlotte. She's completely, absolutely, positively, 100% sure of it.

That, and Keating has seemingly toppled over the edge into insanity and into a world of _love_ and _acceptance_ and _togetherness_ and strange smelling incense that she's burning in her office. After Georgina Hopkins teased Taylor to the point of tears the other day, Keating has decided that the class needs to get to _know _each other and _understand _each other and so she's paired everyone up and assigned an essay that involves talking about the finer points of everyone's said partner, among other things.

Georgina is now sulking in the corner along with Phyllis Campbell, Taylor and Nellie are huddled together at their desks with their heads put together, Geraldine Pitts is trying to avoid Rachel, who she was unfortunately paired up with, and Charlotte is cursing everything because, of all people, she's working with Stephanie.

Or she's supposed to be, at least.

Stephanie is the one doing all the work, furiously scribbling notes down in her notebook, and Charlotte is pretending to be busy but she's really just watching Stephanie out of the corner of her eye, chewing hard on her bottom lip.

Stephanie is sitting close enough that Charlotte can smell her perfume, all light and flowery and inviting, and she can see the sunlight hitting the strands of her hair which she now realizes is nothing like Rachel's because Stephanie's has definition and highlights and sparkles in the light, where as Rachel's hair is just flat and dull. She's so, so lovely like this, brows furrowed over the frames of her reading glasses, and Charlotte wants nothing more than to grab her and kiss her until Stephanie sighs her name. _Charlotte._

"Charlotte?"

She snaps out of her thoughts at the sound of Stephanie's voice with a rather unladylike snort. "Huh?"

Stephanie just smiles. "I wanted you to look over this," she says as she hands over her piece of notebook paper, upon which a list of adjectives is scrawled. "Let me know if I'm missing anything."

Charlotte blinks. "What is this?"

"Just words to describe you. I thought it'd help when I write my essay."

As she reads over the list, Charlotte's chest constricts as she reads over words like _funny _and _elegant_ and _classy_ and _intelligent _and- "Open?" Her brow creases in confusion. "What's open?"

Stephanie's cheeks flushed. "I… I wasn't quite sure to say. I wouldn't put that in the essay, of course. It's obviously no one's business. I was just brainstorming. Is it… is that an okay term to use?" She pauses to take a breath. "For your, um, orientation?"

"Oh."

"If not-."

"No," Charlotte interjects, handing the list back over to Stephanie. "It's fine. I mean… I don't know, you know?"

Stephanie nods. "I understand."

"You-."

"Yeah," she says with a smile. "A few times. I've gone to an all girl's school since I was a kid. It just-."

"Happens," Charlotte finishes.

Stephanie beams, and Charlotte's heart gives a wild flutter behind her ribs. "Exactly. Curiosity and experimentation and all that."

"Huh," Charlotte remarks, head whirling with possibilities and images and shredding Stephanie's stockings with her teeth and oh _fuck. _

"You know, we're not the only one's," Stephanie says, lowering her voice a little to avoid the perked up ear of Georgina, who's watching them with a particularly predatory gaze, gossip fiend that she is. "Nellie and Taylor-."

"_Seriously_?"

Stephanie laughs. "Since the beginning of the year. I walked in on them once."

Charlotte glances over her shoulder so quickly she thinks she might have just given herself whiplash. Nellie and Taylor are still huddled together, fingertips touching on the top of the table and _oh. _That makes so much since. "Huh," she repeats.

"And then there's Rachel…"

"Lopez too," Charlotte remarks, still watching Taylor and Nellie.

Stephanie gasps. "Santana?"

"Speaking from experience."

"Wow," Stephanie breaths, leaning back in her seat. "I never would have guessed. Not about you, either."

Charlotte just smiles as she turns back around. "Or about you."

"I guess I'm full of surprises."

Before Charlotte has a chance to respond, the bell that signals the end of class clangs above their heads and Stephanie sweeps her books until her bag. "I'll see you at lunch, Charlie," she says with a smile as she slings her bag over her shoulder and stands, pushing her chair in.

"Yeah. See you."

As soon as Stephanie is out of sight and ear shot, Charlotte lets out a loud groan and thumps her head down onto her desk, trying to stop the constant barrage of images that's flowing through her head. Stephanie naked and Stephanie in lingerie and Stephanie on her knees and-

"Ms. Dalton, are you planning on staying all day?"

Charlotte just holds up her hand. "I need a minute, Keating."

Or two.

Or a cold shower.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I just really love the idea of Santana at Welton...**

"You could just, I don't know, tell her," Santana remarks from the bed, all sprawled out beneath the flimsy sheets, cigarette in hand. "Grow a backbone, Dalton."

Charlotte whips her head around and narrows her eyes at Santana. "I have one, Lopez," she sneers as she leans back down to continue gathering up her clothes. "Just because I don't always run my mouth like you do…"

Santana snorts in response. "At least I have the nerve to say what I want."

"I have the nerve!" Charlotte snaps, tossing Santana's blouse and skirt in her direction. "I'll tell her eventually, alright?"

"No, it's not alright," Santana replies as she sits up. She makes no effort to grab the sheet as it slips down her naked chest and Charlotte just stops and stares for a moment and ends up missing over half of what the girl in front of her was saying. "-gay, and there's nothing wrong with that, so you might as well fess up to it."

The very tips of Charlotte's ears turn pink. "I'm not… _gay_," she says with a huff. "I'm confused."

"Didn't seem like that earlier when you had your tongue on my-."

"ENOUGH!"

Charlotte runs a hand through her tangled hair, pushing her bangs away from her face. "I will talk to Stephanie when I'm good and ready and in the meantime I'll…"

"Continue to fuck everything with a pulse?"

"Well, yes," she says as she steps into her skirt and tugs it up to her waist. "Besides, what I do is none of your business anyway."

"You said her name, you know."

Charlotte glances up at Santana and frowns. "What?"

"Her name, Dalton. You said her name during sex. With me."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Charlotte stands there for a moment, awkwardly clutching her blouse in one hand, before she sinks down onto the edge of her bed and buries her head in her hands. "I didn't realize."

Beside her, Santana shrugs. "S'alright."

"It's not-."

"It's _fine_," Santana stresses, raising her cigarette to her lips to take a drag. "It's not like I care. I'm not sweet on you or anything, for God's sake."

Charlotte peeks between her fingers and smiles. "You know what they say about people who protest…"

Santana lets out a loud laugh and reaches over to stub out her cigarette before she wraps her arms around Charlotte and drops her chin down onto her shoulder, seemingly ignoring the fact that she's still, in fact, naked. "Look, I'm not all that good at… feelings and stuff," she says with an exaggerated shudder. "But you're my… you know, friend. I guess."

Charlotte rolls her eyes and leans into her embrace, folding her arms over Santana's. "I'm glad I mean so much to you, Lopez," she chides playfully.

"Yeah, well," she shrugs. "More than anything, I just think you're pathetic. Like when Nora was after that Chris guy."

"Oh come on," Charlotte groans. "I'm not that bad!"

"You are."

"I'm not!"

"You are," Santana insists. "You're one step away from stalking her into class with a love poem." When Charlotte says nothing, Santana's eyes grow slightly wide. "You've got to be kidding me. You write love poems?"

"ONE!" Charlotte quickly bursts out. "One poem."

"Oh, for the love of-."

"Shut up," Charlotte groans as she pulls away from Santana's embrace and continues to redress, avoiding looking the other girl in the eye. "I couldn't help myself. I had an assignment and it just... came out. I'm smitten, remember?"

"Kind of hard to forget," Santana replies as she wraps her fingers around Charlotte's wrist and pulls her back over to the bed. "C'mere."

"Hm?"

"Wanna get naked again?"

Charlotte grins and pushes Santana back down onto the mattress. "You never did redress, you know…"

"And for a good reason."

Santana twines her arm around Charlotte's neck and tangles her finger's into her hair as she pulls her down so that their lips can meet. Charlotte's eyes immediately flutter shut as she parts her lips, dragging her tongue across Santana's bottom lip, and Santana tastes faintly like cinnamon, like bittersweet nicotine, and like all the wrong things.


	5. Chapter 5

When the weekend rolls around, Charlotte moves on from the bed of Santana Lopez and into that of Jeffery Phillips, one of the local boys from Ridgewood Public High School.

The Dalton and the Phillips's familes go back several generations and Jeffery has always been the boy that Charlotte's parents had their eyes on for her. And Jeff is a good guy, she supposes. He's kind and funny, though admittedly not all that bright, and girls tend to flock to him like bees flock to honey. He's attractive in a sort of new wave, bad boy way with his shaggy hair and consistent five 'o clock shadow but attractive none the less, and Charlotte thinks that maybe in another life they could have made each other happy.

Maybe.

As it stands, she spends an occasional weekend with him and he'll take her to dinner or to a movie or even out dancing, if she is so inclined. They'll have a good time, she'll get laid, and her parents will be happy so fooling around with Jeffery Phillips isn't really the worst thing in the world.

Charlotte gives him a call the day after she has her talk with Santana and this time, she skips the dinner and dancing and movies and opts instead for heading right into his bed.

"I do love those night passes of yours," he tells her later when they're all tangled up together, and then he gently nips at the lobe of her ear.

Charlotte just offers a hum in reply as she stares up at the ceiling, thoughts whirling around wildly in her head.

"Alright," Jeff sighs as he heaves himself into a sitting position. "What's the matter with you tonight? You're about as much fun as a wet mop."

"Nothing," she says, because she can't imagine having to tell him that even after an hour or so of sex, and good sex at that, she feels absolutely nothing. No excitement, no interest, no desire- _nothing_.

"Babe-."

Charlotte groans as she sits up as well, reaching over for the pack of cigarettes that Jeff keeps on his night stand. "I'm not your babe, Jeffery," she sneers. "You got a light?"

"Hey." Jeff reaches over and plucks the cigarette out of her fingers, tucking it behind his ear like some sort of James Dean wannabe. "Come on. I've known you since we were little kids. If you can't trust me, who're you going to trust?"

The corner of Charlotte's lip twitches. "Remember when we were kids and you snitched on me for breaking your mom's vase even though we said it'd be a secret. Yeah? I haven't trusted you since then."

"Tsk," Jeff says with a click of his tongue. "It's not good to hold grudges."

Charlotte reaches over and smacks him good naturedly on the arm. "Shut up," she grumbles. "I just… it's complicated."

"Because…" he drawls expectantly.

"This isn't supposed to feel different," she says in one big rush. "It… it should feel the same with anyone."

But it doesn't feel the same with just anyone because the feeling of Jeffery's hand sliding beneath her blouse doesn't cause the same sort of warmth to flow through her belly like Santana's hand does and the feeling of his lips on hers doesn't make a tingle of desire shoot up her spine like Santana's lips or Rachel's lips or the lips of that girl from the bathroom at Welton's last dance.

In fact, when Jeffery touches her, it doesn't do anything at all. His hands are just too rough, too large, and too calloused and his lips are too dry and too chapped. He smells like an odd combination of beer and pine and rather than flowery perfume and his muscles don't feel right beneath the pads of her fingers when they dance over them.

Nothing about him feels right at all.

She thinks back to what Santana had said, and what she had tried so hard to ignore. _Gay_, she'd said. _You're gay and there's nothing wrong with that, so you might as well fess up to it. _

As Santana's voice wafts through her head, Charlotte lets out a loud groan and draws her knees up to her chest, thumping her head down onto them. "I thought tonight would change my mind," she says to no one in particular, trying to ignore the word slamming itself against her skull.

_Gay._

She's so gay.

Jeff clears his throat somewhat awkwardly and reaches up to scratch the back of his neck. "Do you… like someone?"

Charlotte just sits there for a moment before she lifts her head. "I love someone," she sighs, happy to finally have admitted it to someone other than herself. Even if it was Jeff.

"Ah."

"I'm sorry Jeffery."

"No, no," he says, waving her off. "You're my friend. This is what I'm here for."

Without even thinking about, Charlotte launches herself across the bed and hugs him tightly, tucking her face into the crook of his neck. "Thank you," she breathes, pressing a light kiss there.

Jeff just chuckles. "Hey, you're welcome." He holds her for a moment before he loosens his grip and clears his throat. "So… I guess this is it for us?"

"Mm, how about we drop the benefits and just stay friends?" Charlotte asks with a smile.

"You got it, kid."

With that, he pulls himself away from the embrace and leans over the edge of his bed to collect his clothes from where Charlotte had thrown them. "So this guy," he starts. "Does he know how you feel?"

Charlotte briefly hesitates, but then shakes her head. "No."

Jeff clicks his tongue again, giving her a scathing look over his broad shoulder. "Better get on that. You deserve to be happy."

And something about the way that he says it, with so much determination and conviction, finally sparks the excitement that Charlotte had been looking for. Without another word, she jumps up off the bed and begins collecting her clothes, hopping about the room on one foot as she struggles to pull on her skirt and her stockings and her underwear all at the same time.

"Thanks Jeff!" she exclaims as she throws on her coat and bolts towards the door. "I'll call you!"

She thinks she hears him mumble something like "goodbye to you too" as she bounds down his stairs but she's already out the door before she even cares.

Jeffery Phillips can wait because there's still approximately twenty minutes until lights out at Welton, and she has a confession for Stephanie Meeks.


	6. Chapter 6

In her haste to make it to the Meeks/Anderson dorm before lights out, Charlotte nearly causes her cab driver to have an accident and then almost forgets to pay him, trips in the snow outside, snaps the heel on her shoe, bites in the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood, and has to make her way into the school by doing an odd combination of a jog, hop, and a limp.

It's 3 minutes until eleven when she reaches the senior's wing of the girls dormitories and she tramples Nora when she comes hobbling around the corner, nearly knocking the other girl to the floor as she rushes past her.

"Hey! Charlotte-."

"Sorry Overstreet!" she hollers, too determined and crunched for time to even bother looking back at her friend.

The doors in their wing are all just beginning to close and Charlotte can see Hager patrolling the other end of the hall, creeping dangerously close to dorm number twenty. Swearing, Charlotte pauses for just a moment to yank her shoes off before she darts off down the hall, ducking right into Taylor and Stephanie's room before Hager has a chance to stick her big nose into her business.

The door slams with a shut behind her and Taylor is on her feet immediately, hair falling out of her curlers as she hurries over to Charlotte's side. "Are you okay?" she asks in that timid little voice of hers, drawing her bottom lip in between her teeth. "Charlotte?"

Charlotte lets out a wheeze in response and places her hand on the door frame for support as she tries to catch her breath. Around her, the room in spinning. "Fine," she gasps out, waving Taylor off. "Just," Wheeze, "Out of shape," Wheeze. "'S hot in here?"

Stephanie steps forward and drops her hand onto Charlotte's shoulder, causing a sharp intake of breath that has nothing to do with her current state of fatigue. "Why don't you sit down? Taylor can get you some water-."

"No!" Charlotte interjects quickly, shaking her head. "No offense, Taylor, but can you leave us alone for a few minutes? Go… see Nellie or something."

Taylor's cheek flush pink and the obvious implications but she nods, checking the hall for any sign of Hager before she politely leaves the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

Hand still on her shoulder, Stephanie guides Charlotte over to her bed and pushes her down on it, reaching down to brush her bangs off of her sweaty forehead. Charlotte shivers. "Training for a marathon are we, Dalton?"

Charlotte tugs at the collar of her uniform blouse, suddenly feeling very constricted. "I just… I needed to talk to you. It's important."

"I'd say so," Stephanie replies with a smile as she takes a seat next to her on the edge of the bed, demurely smoothing out the skirt of her nightgown.

Swallowing thickly, Charlotte stares at her for a moment - fuck, is that really satin? - before she's able to divert her attention away from the other girl's choice in pajamas. If you could really call the little chemise pajamas. More like lingerie- oh, right.

"I love you," she spits out suddenly, knowing no other way to say it.

Next to her, almost all the color in Charlotte's cheeks slips away and her pretty hazel eyes grow wide behind the wire frames of her glasses. "Charlotte, I…"

"I know it's crazy. I mean, it has to be crazy. It's crazy, right?" Charlotte rambles, staring straight down at the carpet. "I don't even get it. I just… ever since the first day. I love you. I've always loved you. You're just… you like, perfect, you know? Smart and funny and kind. Ridiculously kind, really. Remember that time you threatened to beat up Georgina because she stole Spaz's glasses before anyone even knew who Spaz was? You didn't have to do that but you _did._ Do you even know how much that meant to her? I mean, I don't, I never asked, but I but I'm sure it meant a lot and-."

"Charlotte."

"No, really. And that time you let me cheat off you in Trig even though you knew I had just been too lazy to study? You didn't have to do that either. Or cover for me with all the booze and the boys and that time you saw me leaving Rachel's room. And you're so smart, Steph. It's amazing, really."

"Charlotte, I-."

"And do you have any idea how pretty you are? I know most girls think that they aren't- except for me because I know I am and I'm conceited- but you _are_. Your hair is like… like… copper and it's so soft. It looks so pretty in the light, Steph. And your eyes just sparkle like, all the time. You always look so happy and-."

"_Charlotte._"

"What?" Finally pausing to take a breath, Charlotte looks up at the girl sitting next to her and her heart plummets into her stomach when she realizes that Stephanie is crying. Without having to say anything, the look on her face says it all and _oh, no._

"You are… so sweet," Stephanie breathes, placing her hand on Charlotte's cheek. "You really are. "I just… this is just a lot to take in."

They share an awkward chuckle before Charlotte pulls away, running her hand through her hair. "I'm stupid," she says shakily. "So, so stupid."

"No, you're not. You're not stupid, Charlotte."

"I am." Charlotte stands, trying to ignore the way her stomach is churning and her vision is blurring, and she focuses her attention on the ugly swirl pattern in the carpet to avoid having to look up and face Stephanie. "I should have known."

"It's not you. I-."

"Save it," Charlotte snaps, back bristling. "I don't want to hear it."

"I love you, Charlie. I do. I just… I don't see you that way."

"Whatever."

"Charlotte-."

"No."

Stephanie sighs and wipes her eyes. "That's not who I am."

Charlotte turns on her, eyes blazing. "Oh, really? What happened to 'I've done it too, Charlotte. I've been curious too. I understand, Charlotte. It just happens.'?"

Stephanie colors, ducking her head. "That's… that's different. You were talking about flings and I just… s-sex is one thing. Relationships aren't like that! That's not going to be accepted outside of boarding school. Don't you know that? My parents-."

"Oh, fuck your parents," Charlotte spits, tears streaming freely down the length of her face. "Fuck you. Who cares what anyone else thinks?"

"I do, and I don't care what that makes you think of me. It's just… not what we're supposed to do, Charlotte. Two girls? How would that work?"

"The same as any other relationship would work! You're just too wrapped up in your reputation to give it a chance."

"Well maybe I am," Stephanie replies, squaring her jaw. "Are you done or would you like to insult me some more?"

Charlotte's eyes narrow and she places her hands on her hips. "I'm not the one in denial about my own sexuality!" she all but shouts.

Stephanie snorts. "I'm sorry. Were you or were you not spending the night with Jeffery Phillips? That sounds like denial to me."

"It was," Charlotte says icily, folding her arms across her chest. "But then all I could think of was you and how much you meant to me and I just… knew."

Stephanie's face softens and she lets out a quiet sigh. "Charlotte, I'm sorry."

"Save it," Charlotte says with a shake of her head. "I don't want your pity."

"It's not pity! I just… you sprung this on me!" she accuses, jumping to her feet. "If you just give me a little time-."

"Why? So we can run around in secret? Screw around until graduation when you go off and get married?" Charlotte snorts. "No thank you."

"Charlotte!"

"No."

With that, she steps out of the dorm and slams the door, hugging her arms around herself as she makes the trek down the hallway to her own room. The ache in her chest is so strong now that it's almost suffocating and she lets out a quiet, stifled sob as she lies down onto her bed, clutching her pillow tightly.

The girl who has everything- that's what she's supposed to be. Charlotte Dalton: pretty, powerful, happy, untouchable.

Charlotte Dalton.

The girl who has nothing.

**A/N: Don't hate me...**


	7. Chapter 7

"You really need to stop moping," Nellie says one day over breakfast, watching Charlotte halfheartedly pick at her eggs.

"Mmph."

"I'm serious, Charlie. It's been almost two weeks. At least… perk up a little."

Across the table, flanked by Nora and Geraldine, Stephanie suddenly looks very uncomfortable. The news of Charlotte's and Stephanie's confrontation had spread quickly throughout their little group and by lunch time the next day, they had split off into separate factions- Nora and Geraldine stuck with Stephanie and Nellie and Rachel had stuck with Charlotte. Taylor sort of flitted between the two groups, though her main objective was really just trying to avoid Santana Lopez, who sat opposite of Nellie and spent meals glaring at Stephanie like a protective mama bear.

Charlotte flicks a brief glance over at Stephanie and then just shrugs. "I'm perky enough, Nellie. Mind your own business."

"Charlie-."

"I'm fine!" she snaps, slamming her hands down onto the table with enough force to make it shake. "Will you all stop staring at me?"

Six other pair of eyes advert their gaze, and Charlotte takes a deep breath to collect to herself. "I'll see you guys in class," she grumbles as she stands with her tray, shooting Stephanie a particularly nasty glance before she stalks off, heels clacking loudly behind her.

She makes it as far as the trashcan before the sound of another pair of heels- more sensible; less fashionable- comes up behind her and their owner places a hand on Charlotte's shoulder. "Hey-."

"I don't want to talk to you," she spits as she turns around, squaring her jaw as she stares right into the eyes of Stephanie Meeks. "Leave me alone."

Stephanie sighs. "Charlotte, look-."

"I don't want to talk to you!" Charlotte shrikes, pulling her arm away from Stephanie's touch. "There's nothing you can say that will make up for what happened, alright?"

"No, I know that." While she still has Charlotte's attention, Stephanie quickly plunges her hand into her bag and after a moment of rummaging around, she produces a worn piece of notebook paper. "It's the rough draft of my essay about you. For Keating? I just… I thought you might read it since you aren't willing to talk to me."

Charlotte eyes the paper warily before she reluctantly takes it from the other girl. "Well… thanks."

"See you around, Charlie."

She tries to avoid the piece of paper in her hand, she really does, but Charlotte lasts maybe five seconds before she plops down onto the nearest seat and nearly tears the paper in her haste to get it unfolded.

There, scrawled Stephanie's neat, loopy writing is a paper all about Charlotte- her flaws, her achievements, her accomplishments, her good qualities. And when she comes to the bottom of the page, Charlotte can't tell whether she wants to laugh or cry because written there, in that same neat and loopy handwriting, are the words:

_There's a reason that everyone loves Charlotte Dalton, and it's simply because it's _impossible_ not to love her. No one is immune- not even me- and if there's one thing I'd like for her to know, it would be that._

/

By the time the afternoon rolls around, the nervous fluttering in Charlotte's stomach has turned into full fledged nausea, and she's afraid that if she dwells on her situation with Stephanie any longer, she might just throw up.

When the bell rings to signify the end of the last class of the day, Charlotte quickly scrambles to her feet and hurries out the door after Stephanie, grabbing her by the arm once she finally manages to catch up to her.

"Charlotte? What-."

"Shh."

Charlotte drags her down the hallway to a nearby empty classroom and quickly shoves Stephanie inside, pulling the door shut and locking it behind them.

Stephanie merely purses her lips and leans back against one of the desks, folding her arms across her chest. "Yes?"

"Is this true?" Charlotte asks as she pulls Stephanie's essay out of her bag and waves it in front of her face. "Did you… did you really mean what you said?"

"Of course I did. The essay was supposed to be comprised of our honest thoughts and opinions about our partners. I wouldn't have written something that I didn't mean."

Thinking back to the blank piece of paper sitting on her desk, Charlotte rolls her eyes at the other girl's enthusiasm, and then she pauses and blinks. "So… you love me, then?"

Stephanie sighs. "I panicked the other day. I could have… I _should_ have handled that so much better than I did." She momentarily glances down at the floor and her cheeks heat up. "My mom- you'd really love her- she's been planning my wedding day since I was probably five minutes old. She's saved her wedding dress for me and she dreams about me naming my future daughter after her and… well, I wouldn't know how to tell her that it's impossible for me to get married or have children. And my father," she pauses and snorts.

"My father nearly blew a gasket when he found out that one of the boys who lived down the street from us when I was growing up was gay. He says it's unnatural and a disgrace. Something that should never be mentioned. I can't imagine what he would say if he found out that his little girl liked other girls."

Charlotte opens her mouth to interject, but Stephanie holds up her hand and continues. "When you were talking to me, the first thing I imagined was what it would be like to be with you. Holding hands, talking, cuddling, kissing." She stops again and smiles shyly.

"The second thing I thought of was my parents. What they would say, what they would do. I just… latched onto that and I freaked out. And I'm sorry for that because I love you, Charlie. I do. I have since- well, you probably don't remember, but back in sophomore year, Hager stopped you in the hallway and yelled at you for wearing your skirt too short. I just remember how much I loved your individuality and your fire and your passion and then I just realized I loved everything about you. "

_Kissing. _

_I love you._

_Sophomore year._

Head spinning, Charlotte lowers herself into the desk across from Stephanie and lets out a heavy sigh. There are so many things she wants to say, but her throat feels so swollen and dry that all she can manage is, "R-Really?"

Stephanie stares at her for a moment, blinks, and then she lets out a nervous chuckle. "Really." She sits down in her desk as well and reaches across the aisle to take Charlotte's hand.

Stephanie's fingers, long and graceful like those of a piano player, don't exactly mesh perfectly with Charlotte's, which are short and kind of stubby, but perhaps its better that way because the girls themselves aren't perfect, nor is their relationship, and the gaps there prove they only have room to grow- as people, as a couple, as lovers, and as friends.

Charlotte utters a watery laugh and wipes at her eyes with her free hand. "S-Santana told me I should get over you and that I would find someone better. I… I can't imagine anyone better than you."

Tears welling up in her own eyes, Stephanie smiles and gives Charlotte's hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry for everything. I am so, so sorry."

"It doesn't matter," Charlotte says. "We're together now."

"We're together."

When their lips meet, there are no real fireworks or clichéd sparks that fly. Their noses bump, and their teeth knock together, and it's not perfect by any means, but Stephanie tastes like mint chewing gum and Charlotte tastes like tea, and they've both finally found the right combination of things that they've been searching for.

**A/N: The next chapter is going to be the last one! I just want to give tons of love and thanks to Corky and Cloudy who have been my loyal reviewers since day one. Without them, I never would have gotten this far. I am so madly in love with writing The L Word verse and I really hope that those of you reading have enjoyed it as well!**


	8. Chapter 8

On the anniversary of their third week together as a couple, Stephanie saunters into Charlotte's dorm room just after midnight dressed in nothing but a flimsy little satin baby doll nightie.

The squeak of the springs of the door cause Charlotte to pop up like a shot, arms and legs flailing beneath her covers, but once she blinks the sleep out of her eyes and catches sight of the girl standing in her doorway, she nearly has a heart attack. "W-W-What are you doing?" she sputters as she adjusts her blankets, suddenly feeling ridiculously unattractive in her oversize flannel pants and holy socks.

Stephanie does a little twirl, flouncing the fabric at the hem of her barely-there nightgown. "Do you like it?"

"It… it's…"

"I-I know it's a little much," she interjects with a sheepish shrug of her shoulders. "But when Taylor and I had weekend passes to go to town the other day, I saw it in one of the stores and I know you like the color green so I just thought-."

"You'd show up nearly naked and embarrass me by making me drool all over myself?"

"Well, that was only part of the plan," Stephanie laughs as she crosses the room and crawls onto Charlotte's suddenly-too-small twin bed. "You are always telling me to be more spontaneous."

"Carpe diem," Charlotte breaths as she leans over and nuzzles her nose against the other girl's neck, folding her fingers around the subtle curve of her hip. "And you do look stunning in green. Brings out your eyes."

Stephanie laughs, tangling one of her hands into Charlotte's sleep mussed hair. "Mm, my eyes are actually hazel, but I appreciate the effort."

"Your glasses get in the way."

"Excuses," Stephanie rebuts with a cluck of her tongue.

"Hush."

Charlotte brushes her lips across her pulse point and playfully nips at it, eliciting a soft mewl of approval from Stephanie, who closes her eyes and tilts her head back to expose more of her neck. "In all seriousness though," Charlotte mumbles against her skin as she trails her hand down to rest it on Stephanie's thigh, "This was a nice surprise."

Stephanie slithers a leg around one of Charlotte's, pressing the heel of her foot against her calf. "Mm, one of those magazines of Nora's suggested it. '100 Ways to Spice Things Up with Your Man' or something."

Charlotte tenses and pulls back, her eyebrows knitted together in obvious frustration. "Are you saying I'm in the man in this relationship?"

"Well, you do have the libido of a fourteen year old boy…"

"Hey!"

Rolling her eyes, Stephanie flips them over and settles into a straddle on Charlotte's lap, leaning down to draw the other girl's bottom lip in between her teeth and give it a playful nip. "I didn't say I didn't like it…"

Charlotte grins. "No more talking."

/

Embarrassed and sore, Charlotte gingerly rubs the spot on her chin that had just collided with Stephanie's teeth and lets out a quiet groan. "I don't get it."

"It wasn't-."

"No, it was. It was horrible."

After a moment of silence, Stephanie concedes with a sigh. "You're right. It was awful," she grumbles, reliving the past twenty minutes of awkward bumping and fumbling and "you go right, I'll go left- no Charlotte, your other left".

Charlotte whimpers as she turns flat onto her stomach and pulls her pillow over her head. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"It-."

"No!" she exclaims, lifting the pillow to peek one eye out from under it. "It was the worst sex I've ever had. Or tried to have. Don't try to sugarcoat that."

"Charlie," Stephanie says as she reaches over and places her hand on the girls back, giving it a gentle pat. "I know it was awful. I'm not trying to deny that."

"Hmph."

"But so what if it was awful?"

"So what?" Charlotte gasps, whipping the pillow off her head as she bolts into a sitting position. "You're… you! And I'm me and we're together and you had the… the lingerie and it was supposed to be perfect!"

Stephanie stares at her for a moment, blinks, and then starts to laugh. "Charlotte, it was perfect."

"How can you-."

"It was us, right? Together?" She places her hand on Charlotte's cheek. "That was all that mattered to me."

"But-."

"I don't care if it was bad. I was with you."

The corner of Charlotte's mouth twitches as she leans into Stephanie's touch. "You're crazy."

"Like that wasn't obvious. I'm dating you, remember? I must be certifiably insane."

"Hey!"

Stephanie giggles and leans over to press her lips against Charlotte's. "We'll get it right eventually. We'll have tons of time to practice…"

Charlotte's eyes light up at the mention of practice and the last traces of tension dissolve from her face as she reaches over and takes hold of Stephanie's free hand, and laces their fingers together. "Well, I like the sound of that," she mumbles as she leans in for another kiss.

"Thought you might."

"Mm," Charlotte breathes against her lips, gently nuzzling their noses together. "I wonder what else we can fuck up in the meantime."

"Well, there's always meeting my parents…"

**A/N: This is the first story I've ever completed, you guys! I just want to thank Cloudy and Corky once again because I really would not have been able to finish this if it hadn't been for them. And thanks to all of you who read, even if you didn't review! I'm so in love with this little verse and I'm going to be writing some follow-up one-shots for it so be on the lookout for those. :)**


	9. Authors Note

**A/N: Just a little list I compiled of how I envisioned the girls looking while I was writing. Or close to it, anyway. I know they're all ridiculously pretty and that Welton would be overrun with girls looking like supermodels, but it's difficult to find an actress who just looks like a plain school girl. Go figure! :P I tried several times to put in links to pictures but no matter where I used spaces, it just wasn't happening, so I suppose you'll just have to find your own...  
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Charlotte/Charlie: Elisha Cuthbert

Stephanie/Steven: Emma Stone

Nellie/Neil: Natalie Portman

Taylor/Todd: Carey Mulligan

Nora/Knox: Rachel Bilson

Rachel/Richard: Karen Gillan

Gerard/Geraldine: Christina Ricci

And Santana of course is Naya Rivera.


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